


To debunk a rumor

by Welcome_to_1134_Street



Category: South Park
Genre: A little angst, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, I didnt know it would be this long, I like making Kyle the bad guy for a little bit, M/M, POV Third Person, Protective Ike, Slow Burn, Song fic, Strangers to Lovers, a little ooc, he thinks of Kenny as his own brother, ike is friends with Karen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-07-27 16:14:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20048896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welcome_to_1134_Street/pseuds/Welcome_to_1134_Street
Summary: At the beginning, Kyle didn't want to spend anymore time than necessary with the blond. He didn’t even want to be seen with him. But Kenny was an enigma, if there was anything Kyle love more than anything in the word it as a puzzle. And Kenny was proving to be a very difficult puzzle





	To debunk a rumor

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea after listening to 18 by Anarbor and it never left my mind no matter how hard I tried, and trust me I tried. (and cried but that's because I'm a crybaby)

Honestly, he hadn’t thought this out well enough, he was just really pissed. He was pissed at the world for being so fucking shitty, he was pissed at his best friend for not backing him up, but mostly he was pissed at his parents. He was eighteen for Christs sake and his parents were still trying to dictate his every move. Going on about how he was going to be a “wonderful lawyer” and how he was going to marry a “nice girl” and then have the picture perfect family. He was sick of it. 

So in retaliation, he followed the whispers of the town and found himself with the worst person he could find and aggressively declared them to be dating. The confusion on that poor boys face would have been hilarious had he not been seeing red when he asked him out. He barely even knew the male well enough to date him, but he just seemed to roll with it.

According to the whole town Kenny McCormick was not just bad news but the scum of the earth. He was born on the other side of the train tracks, a completely different world from the one Kyle lived in. Not someone that he would usually be associating himself with but for the sake of freedom he would deal with it. As he walked to find the boy Kyle went through all the rumors he could get his hands on mentally checking off everything he knew about the boy. 

One, the kid was piss poor broke

Two, he smoked like a train the day before Christmas

Three, he has slept with almost the entire town

Four, he was known to have multiple lovers at a time

Five, he couldn’t hold a job, he was known to have been fired from multiple jobs at once 

And according to the church he had ties with the local gang.

So all in all, Kyle really caught himself a good (bad?) one it didn’t even matter that this was an on the spot decision. This was his choice in dating Kenny, to show his parents an act of defiance so strong they will be forced to back off. Everything was fine. The gang thing kind of concerned him but he just brushed it off, it’s not like he was actually in a gang, people probably made it up to make him seem stronger than he is. When his parents learned to back up and give him his freedom he was just going to dump the dude anyways. Kyle felt kind of bad for using him, but if the rumors were true then there was no need to feel bad. And just like that Kenny was now swept up in the typhoon known as Kyle Brovloski. 

When Kyle first brought Kenny home he absolutely relished in the dumbfounded faces of his parent, smirking when they saw their intertwined hands. They had to pull him aside to “discuss” his preferences in partners. That left the blond in the living room with Ike as he played minecraft. They didn't like that he was dating _ Kenny McCormick. _ The one that supposedly whored himself around, the one that smoked constantly, the one that was in a gang, the one that was now dating their son. His parents shocked faces were priceless, and that was good, he wanted them to hate Kenny, and he wanted them to hate him for _ dating _ Kenny.

He was expecting Kenny to have no semblance of manners with his parents, what he was not expecting was for Kenny to introduce himself in a polite manner. What was even more unexpected was when he was offered to stay for dinner (much to his parents reluctance), he only decline politely saying he had to get to work. Damn it all, the family dinner was supposed to solidify his parents image on Kenny. When Kenny left the Brovloski’s home he had not expected for Ike to sit next to him on the couch and ask when he was coming back.

At the beginning, Kyle didn't want to spend anymore time than necessary with the blond. He didn’t even want to be seen with him. But Kenny was an enigma, if there was anything Kyle love more than anything in the word it as a puzzle. And Kenny was proving to be a very difficult puzzle, he started noticing things that would fly over the average person's head. 

Kenny was incredibly loyal, he refused to find solace in the company of others. When he asked about it later he claimed that it was a betrayal of trust, and trust is the one thing you have to carefully maintain lest it break with one mindless gesture. He found that out when he had just come out of the theaters bathroom and saw two women approached his so called boyfriend. 

He had watched in the background as Kenny was cornered by two very attractive women. He really thought that Kenny would at least wink at them, but instead he flashed a polite smile and turned both of them down. 

One of the girls pouted and wrote both their numbers on a gum wrapper and slipped it into his breast pocket, patting it and winking suggestively. Purring out a call me before walking away with her companion visibly swaying her hips but Kenny just rolled his eyes and looked away. Kyle walked out of his hiding spot right as Kenny threw away the gum wrapper, grimacing at his hands as if the wrapper had tainted his integrity in some way. 

Kenny did a complete 180 when he spotted Kyle, a brilliant smile snapped into place of the disgusted look he had seen earlier. His expression melted immediately, almost as if the look hadn’t existed in the first place.

“Hey Kyle, all done washing up? Ready to go?” He asked smiling so sincerely that he felt a stab in his heart, but he didn’t know what for. Perhaps he was jealous of Kenny for being able to attract such a pair of women. Yeah, that had to be it. 

“Yeah lets go,” he stated already walking to the door not waiting for Kenny to follow

When Kyle got home he was absolutely exhausted but mirthful, somehow Kenny managed to figure out how competitive he was in basketball and managed to weasel him into playing a match, or ten. That was the most fun he’s had in years, in his youth he had taken to studying like his life depended on it. Which meant he had no time to continue basketball anymore, and because basketball was his go to stress reliever he always came home tightly woven . 

He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, chugging the contents of the bottle like a mad man in the desert. 

“How was your date with Kenny,” Ike said from behind him, causing him to hack up the water he had just drank 

“Don't sneak up on me like that Ike,” he coughed, trying to get the remnants of water out of his lungs, “and how did you know I was on a date anyways?” he eyed Ike suspiciously

“Relax I wasn’t spying on you,” he scoffed, “just call it brothers intuition” 

“_ Right _” he rolled his eyes “it was good, we went to see the new Spider man movie, then we played basketball.”

Ike hummed, staring at his brother for a moment, “you should bring him over more often,” pausing when he saw his brother whipped his head to stare at him in suspicion “he promised to show me a cool trick on the Xbox the last time he was here" he clarified

“Since when did you two get close?” 

“Since when did you start liking the “bad boy misfit” type?” Kyle squinted at his brother suspiciously “I’m just saying, I think it's kinda strange that you suddenly have a taste for the kind of people you used to call the disgusting lower class, and isn’t it strange that you suddenly acquired such tastes right after your big fight with mom and dad” he feigned surprise

“What are you getting at Ike?” he said slowly

“I’m just saying, it's pretty damn convenient that you bring home a dude who is completely not your type who would also piss off mom and dad off at the same time, it's almost as if you were using him for your own selfish agenda,” he hissed 

“That's not whats going on!” Kyle tried to defend

“I never said it was,” the room fell silent for a dreadful minute and Ike sighed speaking up, “Look, I know mom and dad are pissing you off now but you shouldn’t involve innocent people in your affairs, if you want my advice? Break up with him, I don't want to see him more broken then he already is now,” he shoved his finger into Kyles chest “and if it turns out that you do break his heart I will not be able to stand beside you and defend you in your decision,” Ike hissed, turning around and stalking back into his room. 

When Kyle went to bed that night he had to stop and think about the situation for the first time. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, kids his age are supposed to go around dating everyone. It was called experimenting, and there was nothing wrong with it. Yeah, there was nothing wrong with what Kyle was doing. He was just experimenting. That’s all. The unease in his mind did not settle, he fell into a restless sleep, Ike’s words buzzing around in his mind, what did he know about Kenny anyways. 

~-~-~-~-~-~

“Hey Kenny, where do you keep disappearing to all the time? You just up and vanish sometimes,” Kyle’s head was leaning on Kenny’s shoulder, he didn't know when he got so comfortable around the blonde but he was just so warm. He couldn't help himself, Kenny was just so warm and inviting, and he made him feel safe and shielded from the evils of the world. Who could blame him?

“Hm? Oh, that? My coworker is off on maternity leave so I'm taking her shift, usually I have the night shift but with Jen gone things have been hectic lately,” he gave a big smile “It's nothing I can’t handle though! Kenny McCormick can handle anything, if you know what I’m saying!” He winked, giving him a smarmy grin.

His snorted before rolling his eyes and looking away, he heard the front door open and turned to see Kenny greet his brother.

“Hey Maple man! What’s up!” he fist bumped the smaller Broflovski 

“Hey Ken, you know the whole shebang already, just being a fucking badass,” he said casually

Kenny raised a brow, “oh? In what way?” he smirked amused

“You know that one girl I told you about last time? Yeah well I took your advice and totally got her to confess to the principal after an “emergency” fire drill was announced” Ike crossed his arms proudly

“No way kid, that means, you didn’t!”

“I did!” 

“Holy shit kid you’re going to be a legend!” Kenny jumped up in excitement, shaking the younger Broflovski’s shoulder lightly. 

Kyle looked at both of them in concern before interjecting, “um and what did you do exactly?” 

“Lets just say they had a fire drill a month in advance because “someone” set fire to the English room,” Kenny nudged Ike with his shoulder proudly

“You set a fire in the English room?!” Kyle exclaimed 

“What the hell? No Kyle, one of the goth kids was smoking in the English room and I happened to be at the right place at the right time” Ike state matter of factly, fist bumping Kenny behind his back trying to hide his smirk.

Ike tossed his backpack onto the couch, and plopped onto the floor, setting up the Xbox one and putting Black ops in.

“So Ken, you gonna show me that Easter egg this time?” 

“Fuck yeah little dude!” he ruffled Ike’s hair affectionately sitting next to Ike on the floor, Ike only swatted at his hands lazily. Kyle felt a bit jealous, Ike would never let him ruffle his hair like that, if he ever tried he would have a severed hand and a trip to the hospital. But then Kenny comes along and suddenly his asshole of a brother is swept off his feet by his “boyfriend” of a couple of months. Then he looked over to Kenny, with his carefree smiles, and his ridiculously soft blonde hair, sitting next to his brother. The two of them getting along like brothers themselves and if his heart thudded against his chest harder than normal he didn’t pay any mind to it.

~-~-~-~-~-~

“Kenny I thought you didn't go to work until nine?” he looked up from the TV to where Kenny was making his way to the door.

“I just got called in from my other job at the restaurant, our chef is out for the day because he caught a nasty cold,” he shrugged 

“What the hell Kenny, how many jobs do you have?” Why did he suddenly care about what Kenny did in his free time? He brushed it off as being a mother hen, yeah, that was it. 

“Er, three if you don’t count the on and off days with the soup kitchen,” he said light-heartedly 

“And most of these jobs are at night? How the fuck do you get any sleep?” he exclaimed 

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, “I’m just one of those people who can function on one hour of sleep so it's fine, I’ll sleep when I’m dead I guess.” he smiled 

“Kenny that’s not healthy. You're going to pass out and end up in the hospital or die of exhaustion!” He put his hands on Kenny’s shoulders, squaring the boy “Kenny, how long have you been doing this?” he demanded

“Ky, can we do this later? I’m going to be late for work,” Kenny mumbled looking away from his boyfriend 

“Fuck work! You can cancel for one damned day! How long have you been doing this for?!” he hissed trying not to yell at him in frustration

Kenny mumbled something unintelligible, hiding his face in his hoodie, muffling whatever he was saying. Taking a deep breath Kyle cupped Kenny's cheeks, lifting his head so he could look Kenny in the eyes. “Look Ken, I’m not mad at you, I’m just really worried about your health, I’m just really worried about you,” he said in an even tone 

Then Kenny froze his eyes were blown wide in surprise, he stared at Kyle as if he had grown two extra heads. 

“What?” he sucked in a shaky breath, “what did you say?” he breathed slowly, Kyle didn’t understand why Kenny was so suddenly shaken up, it was normal to worry about your boyfriend wasn’t it?

“I said that I was worried about you Kenny” the redhead repeated cautiously, as if the words would set him off if he wasn’t careful

Kenny’s eyes searched his own eyes in an attempt to find a trace of deception, but he wasn’t being deceived because Kyle was being one hundred percent honest. He dropped his head into his hands busting into a fit of laughter his body trembling as he looked back up to meet Kyles confused gaze. His eyes were wet from how hard he was laughing but he suspected that wasn’t the only emotion hiding behind those tears. 

“Thanks for that, I’m sorry for laughing it's just been a while since I’ve heard those words from someone other than my sister,” he shrugged nonchalantly grinning ear to ear, shoving his hands in his pockets to try and mask the fact that his hands were still trembling from the taller boy. He couldn’t hide it from the red head though he scooped the blond up in a hug, and he no longer tried to conceal his trembling, each breath he took was slow and shaky and Kyle was afraid that he was going to have a panic attack.

They stood like that for what felt like an eternity, with Kyle’s arms wrapped around Kenny's shoulders and with Kenny just weakly holding onto Kyle’s arms, head resting on his chest. The blonde just felt so frail in his arms, and Kyle just realized how thin Kenny really was. Questions buzzed around in his mind, how much was this boy actually eating? How well was he taking care of himself? Did he wear sweaters in the winter? Did he know proper health care?

A quiet voice snapped him out of his thoughts, “Sorry dude, I’m just-” he paused, “I’m not really used to people caring so much about me, you know? It's usually me worrying about everyone else,” he explained quietly “Nobody really wants to get close enough to the poor kid to actually get to know it,” he chuckled sadly 

It,_ it _?! What the actual fuck was what supposed to mean? That he didn’t even think of himself as a human being? Kyle was pissed, so intensely enraged, he wanted to find the bastards that made Kenny feel this low about himself and make them regret looking down on them! To kick the shit out of anyone for even thinking about his boyfriend in that manner!

To- wait a minute, wasn’t he one of those people? One of those people who disregarded people like Kenny because of what other people had to say, sneering at them in the comfort of their own home because they were below people like Kyle. And then Kyle felt all of his anger melt away into guilt, and fear, and then disgust at himself. He was one of the very people who pushed people like Kenny so far down the ladder that all that was left for him to dig himself out was his own two hands. 

Kenny started up once more, and Kyle turned his attention to the trembling boy, “But then you came along, and then you and your fiery temper decided out of nowhere that we were dating. And that made me really happy,” he picked his head off of Kyles chest. 

Suddenly those electric blue eyes were focused on him, and only him. “Then, there was hope, hope that maybe someone would ignore the rumors and all the titles and all the accusations and try to get to know _ me_, and not Kenny McCormick the riff raff of the town,” he smiled at Kyle. 

It wasn’t one of those wide happy smiles, or those lazy smiles that Kenny would always be wearing. No, this was a small smile, a smile full of hope, and so much more emotions then Kenny would actually show. This was a private smile, reserved just for Kyle, it was _ made _ for Kyle. His heart picked up speed, and his stomach was filled with a light fluttery feeling that he could only identify as butterflies. Butterflies that he only got when he was in love with someone, and Kyle then realized he was fucked. Absolutely, positively, unmistakably fucked.

Then the front door opened and in walked Ike, pausing in the door frame to stare at the two. He looked at Kyle, then to Kenny and for a moment Kyle wondered what was on his mind but then realized the position he was in. To Ike, it looked like Kyle was being a heartless bastard leading Kenny on for his own desires.

For a moment, he remembered that he had actually been doing that for a while. And then Kyle felt like a trash human being, for thinking that playing with Kenny’s emotions was fine for even a second. He realized how shallow his plan actually was. Shit he had to explain to Ike before he freaked out and snapped his spine like a pixie stick. 

“Wait, Ike I can explain! This is not what it looks like,” he let go of Kenny to try and frantically explain that he was just worried about Kenny, and that he was not in fact stringing him up like a puppet. Ike was already storming over to them, probably to break every single bone in his body. 

“Hey maple man,” Kenny ruffled his hair fondly, “Nothing bad’s going on here, me and your brother are just talking about my work schedule and how stressful it is,” Kenny made it look so fucking easy, while he looked like a crack kid with a stick of dynamite shoved up his ass.

Ike looked up at Kenny, “you sure dude?” when Kenny nodded, he looked over to Kyle glaring, “if my idiot brother is ever acting like a piece of shit you can always come up and play black ops with me,” he patted Kenny’s back before whipping back to Kyle and mouthing strike two, and going to his room. 

~-~-~-~-~-~

Kyle made Kenny sleep over at his house much to his father's disapproval. Kyle had been watching an episode of some old TV show that had been playing for the past week. Kenny was pressed to his side with a book from Kyle’s bookshelf that he wasn’t aware that he had, he had been reading a book on B.F Skinner and his theories on operant conditioning. He wasn’t even aware that Kenny had an interest in psychology and he started to wonder just how much of Kenny he actually knew. 

Sensing a pair of eyes trained on him, Kenny looked up to stare back into emerald eyes tilting his head. “Whats up Ky?” 

He snapped out of his gaze, turning a bright shade of scarlet at getting caught staring at the freckled boy. “Ah, I didn’t know you liked psychology,” he mumbled weakly, fumbling with the strings on his hoodie. 

“Yea, I find all the theories and stuff interesting, it's one of the few things that I actually pay attention to in school,” he smiled softly 

“If you want, you can take my psychology books home with you” Kyle shrugged trying to come off as nonchalant

“Are you sure you should be giving these out like this? Don't these things cost a lot of money?” 

“No, my grandma gave these to me to try and save up some space in her attic and I have no use for them anyways, they’d just be left to collect dust if I left them here”

Kenny gave him a wry look, “you sure? These aren’t like an inheritance or something big like that is it?”

“No, it's nothing like that and yes I want you to have them, clearly you enjoy reading these type of book so they should go to someone who will actually put them to use,” he stated in a firmly. Kenny raised one of his brows smiling in a fond way that made Kyle feel like the luckiest guy on the plant. “Thank you” Kenny’s reply was so soft that he had almost missed it had he not been paying attention. He hummed in acknowledgement before going back to watching his program on the TV. 

Then his mother came down stairs, “oh, hello there Kenny” she greeted him, and Kenny gave her a smile and greeted her back, he could hear the distaste in her voice when she said his name and sweet precious Kenny didn’t let that bother him. His gut churned in disappointment, he didn’t want his mom to hate Kenny, he didn’t want anyone to hate Kenny. “Are you going to be staying over for dinner tonight?” he could hear how hard she was praying for him to say no in her head. 

“Ah, sorry, I don't want to intrude on you guys,” he saw relief flash in her eyes “I guess it's getting late, I should be getting home, thanks for having me over Mr. Broflovski,” he got up from the couch leaving his book behind and heading for the door.

Then Kyle jumped up from the couch calling out, “Wait! Maybe you should stay the night? It's already really dark out and we wouldn’t want you getting stabbed and ending up on the news now?” his mom could suck it, he was going to give Kenny no other option then to stay for dinner. He could practically feel the mental glare his mom was giving to him 

“But I’d really hate to intrude and I gotta get home to make dinner for my sister” he watched as he shuffled awkwardly, shit, he had a sister? How the hell was he going to get him to stay. 

“Well Kyle it seems like he has to get home now, we don’t want to keep his_ sister _waiting now do we?” He didn’t like what she was implying, he trusted Kenny, he knew how loyal that boy was. He turned to look back at Kenny who was texting someone with what looked like concern. When he finished, he looked back up at Kyle giving him a small sheepish smile. 

“Who was that?”

“That was my sister, she just texted to say that she was staying at her girlfriends house,” he flipped his phone around to show him the text. Her name was labeled mini McCormick, and he thought that was pretty cute. He turned back to his mother smugly, “well _ mom _, I guess he doesn’t have to go now, it would be pretty rude of us to make him walk back home in the dark, alone”

“I guess he can stay,” and his mom caved, he mentally fist pumped at his success 

“If you want, I can help you with dinner? I know a bit on Jewish cuisines” he suggested, he watched as his mom looked touched at the offer, no one really helped her with the cooking in the house so the gesture really got to her. 

“I suppose it would be nice having a hand in the kitchen for once, we’re going to be having beef Cholent, for dinner,” Kyle stared in amazement, within a couple of minutes of working with his mother, Kenny had won her over. They worked in the kitchen soundlessly, chattering about everything and anything. Kenny was swapping recipes and chopping vegetables like it was second nature to him as he laughed along with his mother. 

Then Gerald came down stairs and pulled his wife off to the side whispering animatedly to each other. He listened to the conversation feeling incredibly proud of his mother for defending Kenny from Gerald's accusations. Then Ike came down and said a few choice words and sitting at the island to watch Kenny cook. The two chatted about different video games and how to successfully get rid of an entire colony of jakovasaurs. 

Then Sheila came back to the kitchen only to be stunned into silence as she watched Kenny intricately weave dough into braids. Then he started to roll them out into small pigs, bears, turtles, and other cute little animals, adding chocolate chips and cinnamon. He had even let Ike join in on making fun little designs, they ended up making a behemoth of a challah. With cinnamon, chocolate chips, honey, maple syrup, and crumbs as the toppings.

“Sorry for taking over your kitchen Mrs. Broflovski,” he rubbed his neck sheepishly when he spotted her in the dining room

“Oh I don’t mind at all, it looked like you and my little bubbalah were having fun, and it's always nice to have a break every once in a while,” she waved him off “Kyle set the table dinner should be done soon” he wordlessly set the table smiling fondly at how well Kenny was blending into his family. 

After dinner, Kenny had a stronger impression on his parents then he had before and he was sure his mom was about to adopt him on the spot. His dad not so much though, he just stuck to hating Kenny even if he did offer some life changing advice. 

He offered to help with the dishes, but he was turned away saying that he already helped with dinner and they wouldn’t want him to be doing everything in the house. Kyle had to drag him to his room to get Kenny to stop him from jumping in and helping her do the dishes regardless. She wished them a good night and whispered some advice that left him red in the face.

“So do you guys have a guest room?” he asked shuffling behind Kyle awkwardly 

He tossed a strange look back at the boy, “you’re sleeping in my room Ken, where did you think you were going to sleep? The couch?” 

“Er, yes?” he tried, and Kyle looked over at him incredulously “Kenny, you're our guest, we wouldn’t make you sleep on the couch, and if my dumb parents did then I would lock you in my room and force you to sleep with me,” he declared 

“Wow, Kyle I never knew how desperate you were to get me into your bed” he laughed throwing the red head a flirtatious wink laughing when he punched his arm and grumpily dragged him to his room. 

Kyle gave him a spare toothbrush and a pair of pajamas that were small enough to fit Kenny, he was so skinny that he practically drowned in the fabric. The two settled under the covers facing one another as they drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up he could hear the tell tale sounds of crying, letting his eyes adjust he could see that Kenny was crying in his sleep. From the looks of his he seemed to be having a very bad nightmare quivering softly in the sheets.

“Kenny? Ken?” he shook the blond softly, not expecting him to bolt upright causing him to get pushed off the bed. 

“Oh shit, Kyle are you okay?” he asked in a low tone

“Am I okay? What about you, you’re the one that was crying in your sleep?” he whispered crawling back onto the bed to sit in front of Kenny.

“Oh was I?” he mumbled frantically wiping tears from his eyes “sorry, I just get these nightmares sometimes, let's just.. Go back to sleep okay?”

“What? No! Kenny you’re clearly not okay, I want you to talk to me about it” he exclaimed quietly, almost forgetting that it was two in the morning. 

“It's nothing, I don’t even remember what I was dreaming about anyways?” he chuckled weakly, but one steely look from Kyle and he slumped forward. “I don't know okay? Sometimes I get these dreams and they really fuck me up, I feel like if I died tomorrow people would just pick up where they left off and forget me” he shrugged

“And?” Kyle prodded, “And the shitty thing about it is that I’m already prepared for it to happen, hell it's happened a couple of times, what’s one more?” he laughed bitterly as he clenched his fists

“Kenny” he whispered cupping his face “People like that aren’t worth the time, there’s no use in being hung up on them, people like your friends care about you, your family cares about you, and I care about you,”

“Please, Kyle, please don't say that unless you mean it, I don't think my heart would be able to stand it if you ended up like that, please Kyle” he looked down fiddling with the loose ends of his shirt

Kyle just sat there for a moment in silence before tilting Kenny's head up he pressed their lips together in a simple gesture. Kenny’s eyes were blown wide in shock, he shook in his boyfriends hold, tears began to spill from his eyes cascading in a waterfall of emotions. He clung onto the taller boy desperately, squeezing his eyes shut enjoying the intensity of it all. It was just a simple press of the lips, but it held so many emotion that he could never voice. 

They pulled back for a moment to catch their breaths, and suddenly they were swept along into their own little world. Lips colliding once more as they began their dance once again, this time with a sharper emotion that the two of them couldn’t place. Kyle wasn’t able to stop himself, kissing Kenny over and over again until they were both red in the face and out of breath. 

“I love you” he whispered grabbing Kenny's hand gently 

“Thank you” Kenny whispered back squeezing Kyles hand as they lay cradled in each others arms, basking in their shared warmth.

For a moment Kenny wondered if this was true happiness, or if this was some cruel trick that god was playing on him. He wondered how long this would last before his heart was thrown to the curb.

~-~-~-~-~-~

“Hey Ken, how come we never go to your apartment?” 

Kenny scratched the back of his neck nervously, “well, I mean, it's not as nice as what your used too, so I figured there was no point in going there when we could just chill here.” 

“You know I don't care about how nice or not nice your place is right? Because it's your home, and it means something to you and if you like it then I have no say in judging it.” he stated firmly, “Come on, get in the car, were going to go to your place,” he grabbed his dad’s car keys and waited for Kenny at the door. 

“Well?” the blond looked like he was contemplating something, before getting up and leaving with him. 

“I’ve never really invited anyone over before, so excuse the mess” Kenny fumbled with the keys, almost as if he was purposely trying to buy time before unlocking the door. When Kenny said mess, he didn’t know what he expected, but this was not it. The entire apartment was immaculate, not a speck of dust in sight the only thing that even seemed somewhat dirty was the cup sitting on the coffee table. Everything was furnished nicely, there was a light grey sectional couch in the middle. In front of it was a wooden coffee table with two nice little drawers on the bottom. There was a 42 inch TV sitting neatly on a small oak table.

“Karen must be home early today,” Kenny mumbled shutting the door behind him

Kyle felt a stab of jealousy, who was this Karen chick? Kenny never told him about a Karen? Was he cheating? Was she a daughter? Friend? 

“Hey Kare? I'm home!” he called out and a pair of feet could be heard bounding towards them

“Kenny!” a short girl half of Kenny’s height jumped into his arms laughing in a carefree manner “welcome home! And who’s this! Gasp, Kenny you never bring anyone home!” she giggled 

“Karen, this is Kyle, my boyfriend and Kyle meet my sister, Karen”

“Nice to meetcha Kyle, pleasure to have you in the family” she smirked when Kyle blushed a bright red to rival his hair, and Kenny the little shit laughed along with her.

“So what are you doing home early? I thought you had that girl scouts thing today with Tricia?” he asked 

“Oh that, me and Trish got fed up with their ridiculous codes, did you know we cant even earn a fishing badge?! Instead we get badges for paper mache dolls and bracelet making!” she threw her hands in the air in exasperation “so me and Trish bailed halfway through, and came here, and Ike stopped by too, we’re currently trying to figure out which one of us would most likely survive the zombie apocalypse,” she finished

“To be quite honest I think it would be me, because I know more about survival then both of you,” a voice popped up behind Karen, and there was the little shit in all his unholy glory leaning against a wall smirking at Kyle. 

“Oh yeah! Name one way to start a fire without a lighter!” she held her index finger up 

“Potassium permanganate and sugar, just cause a little bit of friction between the two and it lights up,” he shot back, glancing at his brother with a scheming look sorts.

“Where the hell are you going to find potassium permanganate in the zombie apocalypse, you could just use a battery, gum wrappers and orange!” she exclaimed 

“Calm down you two, you’re going to drive your brothers up the wall with your senseless bickering,” Tricia appeared behind Ike, making her way next Karen’s side

“You’re just mad that you’d probably be the first to get killed off in the apocalypse,” Ike huffed

“Hey! I’d protect her!” Karen gasped, hugging Tricia protectively 

“Thanks babe,” Tricia kissed Karen on the cheek as Ike made a gagging sound

“Okay kiddos, I don't mind if you guys hang out here, but make sure that you keep the noise level down, Mr. Avery was riding on my ass about the last time you guys came over,” Kenny pointed to Tricia “and that means no more indoor firecrackers” she flipped him off before running off with Karen 

The three of them scampered off into Karen’s room arguing senselessly about who would survive the longest. Kenny flopped down onto the couch, letting out a long sigh, Kyle sat next to him, trying to find something to say. 

“I didn’t know that Ike came over,” he blurted out

Kenny looked at him, “really? He’s been coming over since middle school, he, Kare, and Trish have been inseparable since the moment they met, I didn’t tell you because I figured you knew already,” he tilted his head hissing when he heard a September remix playing from Karen’s room

“I guess I don't know everything about my brother like I thought I did.” 

“Trust me, you can’t know everything about your siblings, the best you can do is try and understand them, I figured that out a little too late when my older brother suddenly just upped and vanished.” he snorted 

“Kenny, tell me about yourself, you know everything about me, and yet I don't know that much about you,” He was going to learn every possible thing about this boy, no matter how small.

“Well I mean, there’s nothing much to learn about, I have an older brother named Kevin, a younger sister whom you’ve already been acquainted to, and that’s pretty much it I don't know what else to say,” he shrugged

“What about your parents? Do you mind if I ask?” 

“Nah, I don't mind, my parents were a piece of shit, my dad was a raging alcoholic, and my mom was no better, but at least she tried to be a good parent unlike my _ dad _.” he sneered at the names as if it would summon the male just by saying it.

“ He would get drunk, sit on the couch and then tell me that I had to start pulling my weight around the house. I got my first job at eight years old because of him, woo” he said sarcastically, and Kyle just listened, he hasn’t even met Kenny’s dad but he already hated them.

“Everyday he’d ask if I made any money and then yell how useless I was for not pulling my weight.” he rolled his eyes “I didn’t really give him any of the money, I knew he was just going to use it for weed, and alcohol, instead I saved up every penny I had opened a savings account and at 15 I was able to move out with my sister, my brother signed the lease for our apartment since I couldn’t do it myself, and I’ve been living here ever since, and that’s my life story I guess” he leaned his head back on the couch

“Kenny, remember when I asked you how long you had been working like that? What was the answer,” he asked quietly 

“Eleven years, I’ve had my first job when I was eight, my second job I got when I was ten, and my third job at sixteen, so all in all I’ve been working for a really long time” he tried to laugh, play it off as a joke, but his tone fell flat when he saw the intense gaze Kyle was giving him.

“Kenny do you really need all of those jobs? I know some people who are working two jobs and can still hold up a house, not to mention that what you’re doing is extremely unhealthy,” he added 

“I guess I can quit one of them, but with everything going on I don't want to cause them anymore trouble” he murmured

“You shouldn’t be worried about them, right now you need to worry about yourself, because what you’re doing is going to lead you into an early death, and then what?” Kyle asked “you won’t be able to accomplish anything when you’re six feet under,” he exclaimed

Kenny seemed to mull over that thought, after what seemed like an excruciating amount of silence Kyle sighed “we’ll work out which job you don’t actually need and we’ll figure everything out, for now let's just cuddle and watch something on Netflix.” Kenny nodded leaning on Kyles shoulder 

They watched Netflix on Kenny’s TV until it was time for him to make dinner, the troublesome trio decided to stay for dinner because “Kenny’s food was so kick ass that if Jesus were to eat his lasagna then it would purify him into another being.” He had thought it was a strange comment until he had actually tried Kenny's food and practically orgasmed 

He had seen Kenny cook before but this time felt different, he just seemed so happy and experienced. Dancing around the kitchen, and humming as he pulled ingredients out of the fridge and an unlabeled mason jar with what was probably tomato sauce. Karen had leaned over to whisper that Kenny premade his own tomato sauce and pasta, and Kyle couldn’t be even more impressed. Kenny sang while he cooked, and he filed that away under the habits that Kenny did unconsciously. By the time Kenny had put the lasagna in the oven, the other kids had shuffled out of Karen’s room. 

“Are you guys going to stay for dinner? Kenny’s making lasagna,” Karen asked

“Uh, babe you know how much we love Kenny's cooking, no offence but I would sell my own brother for Kenny’s food,” Tricia said 

“Yeah, me too, can I just have your brother Kare? Mine sucks,” Ike whined

Karen ignored the small, hey from Kyle, “No can do, your just going to have to deal with your sucky brother, no offence Kyle, because my brother is the ultimate brother and you can’t have him,” Karen stuck out her tongue at them 

“I’ll have you know I’m a fantastic brother! I just have a really shitty younger brother” Kyle squawks 

“You keep telling yourself that big brother, but denial will one day kick you in the ass,” Ike rolled his eyes

“Fine! I’ll get a new little sibling, Karen, you’re my new little sister now,” he huffs

“I’m afraid Im going to have to stop you right there mister,” Kenny called out, having finished cleaning the kitchen, “Kare and I are like peanut butter and jelly, you can’t have one without the other, we are a super dynamic” Kenny fist bumped his sister 

“Hmm, I don’t know, I think I might like it as a Broflovski” she smirked pretending to contemplate the idea

Kenny put a hand over his heart and gasped dramatically “I feel so betrayed! Oh woe is me! My own flesh and blood! Who would have thought! And who is the man I must fight for your affections!” he flopped into his chair lazily, grinning from ear to ear as Karen giggled. 

After dinner Tricia went home and Ike decided to stick around since his brother had decided to bring the car and he didn’t want to walk home in the dark. The four of them were watching friends on Netflix for lack of better things to do. Three hours later and only the younger siblings are still awake and watching Netflix with the volume turned down.

“Don’t they look cute together?” Karen cooed pulling out her phone to take a picture of the two cuddling on the couch, fast asleep.

“I think they’re disgusting together,” Ike gagged

“Oh don’t be like that, I think they’re good together,” Karen smiled “you can tell both of them are madly in love with each other, like grossly in love with each other.”

Ike hummed in acknowledgement, glancing back at his brother, then at Kenny.

“Remember when I had a crush on your brother?” Ike sighed “he would always know when I was upset even if I didn’t show it, and he stuck it out when things were getting a little out of hand.” 

“Yeah, you had it bad, but pretty much everyone in my class had some sort of crush on my brother, he’s pretty much the entire package.” she hummed

“Yeah, he’s got the looks, the brawn, the brain, not to mention he can cook,” 

“Yeah, it's a shame those rumors practically ruined his reputation”

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the soft voices on the office, “so why did you bring that up?” Karen asked

“I don’t know? I’m not crushing on him anymore but seeing him with my brother makes me insanely jealous, I just get really protective of him when Kyles around, it's just, with everything that he’s done for me, and everything he’s gone through I want to return the favor,” he sighs 

“I get what you mean, but my brother is strong, he can take care of himself, and if anyone tries some sneaky shit like last time, he’s got Cartman on his side,” she put her hands up in a chill pose, “now that might not sound reassuring but, I assure you, that's a good thing,” she tried to reassure 

“Ugh, that fat fucker? If I’m being honest I would keep Kenny far away from that lardass as well,” he groaned

“Actually, he’s gotten Kenny out of a few tricky situations before, remember when those cops came over and tried to take Kenny away because some bitch was spreading rumors that Kenny was selling drugs? Yeah, Cartman vouched for Kenny because he bought him a bag of chips once,”she sounded so fond of him 

“The Cartman I know tried to murder my brother because he tried to get rid of the local Walmart, I don't now what Eric you have but I’ll gladly trade,” Ike scoffed 

“Well Cartman and Kenny have been friends for the longest time, even though he was constantly ripping on Kenny for being poor Kenny never left, he’s loyal like that,” Karen yawned before turning off the TV and standing up and stretching. “Are you going to sleep here or wake up your brother?” 

“I’m just going to stay here, Kyle is a really heavy sleeper, there is no possible way to wake at this point, let me just text my mom real quick, she probably still up reading some book about how to splice up her sex life or something,” he shrugged 

“Ew gross I didn’t need to know that, you can sleep in my brothers room seeing as he wont be waking up anytime soon,” she jerked her thumb over to where the two were sleeping

“I’ll get my jammies from your room first, and for the record, I didn’t need to know that either but here we are,” he shivered in disgust 

Karen laughed like the little shit she was before patting Ike on the back, “I’m glad my brother is at least discreet about his sex life.” she looked disgusted for a moment, “help me move these two so that they aren’t sore in the morning” she motioned to their brothers

When Kyle woke up he was the most comfortable he had ever felt in a long time, there was a gentle warmth radiating from the person lying on top of him. And when he opened his eyes he realized how lucky he was to have this man all to himself. He looked so damn peaceful sleeping with this cheek squished against his chest and his arms wrapped around his waist. 

Kyle was a coward, he wanted to confess about his misdeed on why he approached approached the blond in the first place. So that he wouldn’t find out that he had been lying to him their entire relationship. He needed to do this, but he was terrified of the outcome, he was terrified of hurting Kenny, and he was terrified of making Kenny hate him. Kenny was perhaps the best thing that happened in his life, and he didn’t want to lose that. 

“Hey Kinny, I need to borrow yo-, what the hell are you doing here you fucking jew,” 

There was Cartman in his unholy glory, standing in the doorway, glaring at Kyle like _ he _was the one that wasn’t supposed to be here.

“I happen to be Kenny’s boyfriend, what the hell are you doing here fatass?” he spat glaring back at Cartman

“I happen to be Kenny's best friend,” he hissed his glare intensified

A sleepy groan snapped both of them out of their glaring contest, their heads snapped to the sleeping McCormick. A cough came from behind both of them, they turned to see the younger McCormick who was staring at both of them with an unimpressed glare. 

“Will you two shut up? I don't care how close the both of you are with my brother, if you wake him up I will end both of you, he’s usually up by now but yesterday must have been so mentally draining for him to be sleeping like a log at six in the morning,” she hissed “it seems like you two have a lot to talk about so I suggest going down the block and hashing it out at the park, there’ll be breakfast by the time you two get back.” 

Cartman glared at Kyle once more, before stepping out of the way of the door and hissing, “after you” to which Kyle hissed “no after you.” Then Karen got fed up with the both of them and replied “after both of you,” and promptly shoved them outside of the apartment and locked the door. 

Reluctantly the two of them walked down the block to the park, because they didn’t want to incur the wrath of Karen McCormick. They walked in relative silence, until they reached the park, Cartman decided he had enough of Kyles bullshit and confronted him. 

“What the hell are you playing at you fucking jew,” He snarled 

“What do you mean what am I playing at fatass?” he replied with as much heat as the heavyset boy

“Don't play your fucking jew games on me, I know you’re up to something and you better leave Kinny the fuck out of it.”

“Since when have you care about anyone! Who’s to say you’re the one playing games on my boyfriend!”

“Because Kinny and I have been friends for a long time, unlike the two of you! Kinny isn’t even your type! So I’ll ask you again, what the fuck is your game Kahl?!” he barked out so intensely that Kyle was reeling from shock, was he really that transparent. 

“I’m not playing games, I genuinely care about Kenny!” He exclaimed

“As if I’ll believe that for one second _ jew _, Kinnys been hurt once already, he doesn’t need to be hurt a second time, so fuck off before you make the biggest mistake of your life.” 

“What do you mean he’s been hurt before?” all the heat dropped from his voice replace with concern, Cartman paused to look at the jewish boy, squinting at him in suspicion. 

“You really do care for him don't you” there was no longer any anger in his words, just quiet resignation 

“Yes I do! Now tell me what you mean, who the hell hurt Kenny,” he crossed his arms tapping his foot impatiently

Cartman sighed taking a seat on one of the swings, “you really think you’re the first one to try and play Kenny for a fool?” he asked with disdain

“A long time ago Kenny went out with a guy named Alex, long story short the guy was a douche who tried to use Kenny to get this girl to go out with him, and that's not even the first time it's happened! For some reason it worked, and then people stopped trying to go out with him because they were interested and started going out with him to make people jealous, or try and get back at their parents or something dumb like that!” He sat down on one of the swings

“Kinny was too nice to call them out for their bullshit so he just stuck through it, until one dude got ballsy and tried to hit on Karen, Kinny got pissed and kicked him out so he started spreading rumors about Kinny and how he was a whore and other bullshit to ruin his life, and at one point the cops even got involved because the guy had ratted Kinny to the cops claiming he was selling drugs. The bastard even planted evidence.” He finished

“Wait what happened to Kenny? Did he go to jail?”

“No I covered for him,” He proclaimed looking away for a moment kicking the ground 

“You covered for him? You? They guy who wouldn’t even help his own mother in her time of need, helped Kenny? Out of the kindness of your heart?”

“Is it so hard to believe I am capable of being nice? Yes I helped Kenny!” he barked

“Why?” the question was simple enough but it made the boy freeze his actions

“Because” 

“Because what?” he asked sharply

“Because I owe him! He helped me realize that if I didn’t clean up my damn act I was going to be alone for the rest of my life! Because no matter how much I pushed him away he always came back, he’s so goddamn committed that he refused to leave until my life was better! Okay?” he shouted “I owe him my fucking life Khal because without him I would have actually murdered you a long time ago” he seethed watching as the red head fell silent

“what happened to the dude?”

“I tipped off the mafia that he was running his mouth and they ordered a hit, so now you know to back the fuck off before you end up being the reason he’s hurt again” Cartman’s phone buzzed, “Kinny’s up, and he made breakfast, I don't know about you but I still need to get back there and get my stuff” he walked off leaving Kyle alone to his thoughts 

When Kenny woke up he was content, until he suddenly remembered that he had responsibilities. Jolting upwards he grabbed his phone to check the time only relaxing when he realized it was a Saturday and he didn’t have any work in the morning. He was oddly disappointed when he realized that Kyle hadn’t been there. 

“Hey Kare did you have breakfast yet?”

“Not yet, also Cartman stopped by, but got intercepted by your boyfriend they’re in the park talking,”

“Why couldn’t they talk here?”

“Because you were sleeping and goodness knows how much you need that rest,” she stated pointing at him with a leveled glare

He chuckled lightly messing up her hair, pulling ingredients out of the fridge to get started on breakfast. Now that they had their own apartment and he had a stable job, he was going to make sure he spoiled Karen to death with his cooking. 

Ike woke up moments later and started playing uno with Karen, the two of them already full of energy despite just waking up. Cartman walked in through the door followed by a slightly disgruntled Kyle

“Hey Eric,” he chirped “you staying over for breakfast or did you leave something here again?”

“How about both Kinny, you know your food is the fucking bomb, it's even better then my moms cooking” he laughed

“Hey Ky, I see you two have already met, but in case you haven't been properly introduced, Kyle this is Eric my best friend, and Eric this is Kyle my boyfriend, now that you’ve been properly introduced wash your hands because breakfast is ready” 

Morning went by quickly, Cartman and Kyle fought over who would help Kenny do the dishes, and in the end, Karen and Ike ended up doing them. Cartman left giving the I’m watching you signal behind Kenny’s back, and Kyle left to drop Ike off at home. During the car ride there Ike had told him to have a chat with Kenny and to not draw everything out lest he regretted it.

Kenny was furiously cleaning the apartment, Karen had left an hour ago to watch a movie with her girlfriend, and he was stressing himself out. Throughout breakfast his boyfriend looked like he wanted to tell him something, and usually for him, that meant the end of the road. It’s happened time and time again, every time he thought things were going well things would suddenly end, and Kenny wouldn’t be able to handle this one with dignity. 

He heard a knock on the door, frantically he yanked the door open almost forgetting to compose himself. “Hey Ken, we need to talk,” Kyle spoke softly

And this was it, he was going to break up with him and tell him that he no longer needed the blond. It was fucked up but no matter how many times this has happened, it always hurt in the end but this time, he wanted to end it on his own terms. 

“I’m sorry Kyle, I think we should end this” he muttered just loud enough for the male to hear

“What! Why?” he exclaimed in surprise

“I just don't think this is going to work out Kyle” He clasped his hands behind his back nails digging into his arms. He didn’t want to keep crying in front of him, he had already shown weakness twice and he didn’t need to do it for a third time.”

“Kenny? What did I do wrong? Was I bad boyfriend? Did I mess something up?” Kyle asked worriedly

He took a deep breath looking at the floor as he spoke, “I just don't think that our relationship is going to work out, you’ve got your entire life ahead of you, you’re going to find someone better eventually and I’ll be just another passing image, so I think it's best if we split while we can,” there he had done it, now the sooner he leaves the sooner he could collapse in his bed and wallow in his misery. 

“No” what? “Kenny you don't get to break up with me over something as stupid as that,” he declared heatedly

“Kyle, we’re over it doesn’t matter if the reason is stupid, I’m not happy with you” that wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. Being with Kyle made him incredibly happy, but knowing why he was with Kyle made him want to blend his insides up and drink an organ smoothie.

“Kenny look me in the eyes and tell me again that you want to break up with me,” He said stepping closer then Kenny was comfortable with. He took a step back trying to put distance between them but Kyle wouldn’t let him, not unless he got an answer. 

“Kyle please don’t” Kenny spoke meekly

“Kenny I came here to say that I used you,”

“I know” he said quietly 

“I used you to fuck my parents up and show that I wasn’t a child anymore and I can make my own decisions,”

“I know” he whispered

“Our relationship was fake” 

“I know” His voice broke, it was getting harder and harder to hold back the tears, he just wanted Kyle to leave already. He didn’t need him to rub it in that he was undesirable and that the only way anyone would get close is if they needed to use him.

“Until it wasn’t” Kenny jolted in place tempted to look up to see the expression Kyle was wearing, “I originally wanted to use you and then just dump you off to the curb not caring that I was manipulating your feelings,” he let out a single bitter laugh “But then, I spent time with you and then I got to know the real you not the one surrounded by rumors and suddenly I didn’t have to fake a relationship because I wanted things to work between us.” 

He looked up emerald green clashing with electric blue eyes, “I understand if you want to break up with me now after everything I’ve told you but I will not accept it if we split ways because of some dumb reason like that so please, tell me again if you want me to leave or not”

Kenny swallowed trying to even his breathing, taking multiple shaky breaths before looking up for the first time since their chat. “All I wanted, was for one of these relationships to finally be real, for someone to finally look past everything and go out with me because of me, it may have not been the ideal situation, but you did end up looking past the rumors, and that’s all I ask for” he took a moment before finishing “please don’t leave me Kyle”

“Okay” he whispered

Their relationship may not have been the fairy tale ending that everyone wanted and the may not have figured everything out. But if there's one thing that Kyle was certain of it was that Kenny had not been swept up in the tycoon of Kyle Broflovski. Kyle had been guided into the gentle waves of Kenneth McCormick and that he loved him no matter what problems they faced.


End file.
